3 Reasons Conferences Are Essential Real Estate Success

I am at the NRBA (National REO Brokers Association) conference this week, in fact I am writing this article actually at the conference.

The world of REO has definitely changed in most parts of the country. The conference is for REO listing agents and four years ago there were over 1,000 people in attendance at the conference; this year there might be 250. I learned a lot while at the conference, but not just from the information presented.

I think of new ideas, meet new people and I have time to think about my business. It is so easy to get caught up in the grind that we don’t always have time to plan and think about the big picture.

After some reflection, I’ve realized there are 3 important benefits to why everyone should be attending conferences like the one I’m at right now.

1. It Gets Us Out Of The Box

I get stuck in the daily grind very easy.

I have a lot of different things going on as I discussed on Bigger Pockets Podcast 68. I own ten rentals, have 8 fix and flips going right now plus I have listings and a real estate team.

I always have something to do and it is hard to take time to plan and think about where my business is going and what my goals are. When I come to conferences there are many sessions I sit through and some of them are not that exciting.

It gives me time to think about my business, what I am doing, what I can do better and what new things I can implement.

2. Brings To Attention Things I Can Do To Improve Bussiness

Going to conferences, whether it is the NRBA or FICON that I wrote about a couple months ago, they all give me so many great ideas!

I meet a ton of people who are like minded successful investors, real estate agents or both. When I network, not only do I meet new people and get new ideas, I also get possible business from it.

I am also reminded that we are going to conferences to improve our business so we can achieve what really want in life. Buy talking to agents and listening to speakers I always have a notebook full of ideas and refinements I can make to improve my business.

At this conference I was reminded about a task list I had created after my last conference that I never finished. It was reinforced into my brain that I need to contact people I met at the last conference to reinforce our networking.

Even though this conference is for REO brokers, many of the agents I talk to are investors as well. I have met multiple people fix and flipping and I played golf with an agent who has 26 rentals.

We all share our experiences and how we are doing things to make more money and invest better.

3. Produces Forced Delegation

I know many people are thinking I can’t go to a conference, who will take care of my business?!

Well, if you have an established business of any kind you need to have an assistant. I have 9 people on my team and I love them because they let me go to conferences or on vacation without having to worry about work.

I talk much more about hiring and delegation in this article. The president of the NRBA in his opening speech made a fantastic point. He said many people don’t want to hire people or a team because of all the hassle and work it takes to run a team.

The truth is a team and assistants make everything easier. If you hire the right people the team can run the team for the most part. They can do all the busy work and tasks you don’t like doing.

A team will give you the time to plan and set yourself up for success.

Conclusion

Find a way to take time off to pursue conferences in your field or a field you are interested in. It will teach you a lot of great information and give you the time and mindset to plan and make yourself more successful.

What is a conference you’ve attended that has been really impactful for your business?

Share your thoughts below!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.